


Unexpected

by Isoldmysoultocrowley



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, I don't even like him, I'll try to put a decent plot into this, Implied Sexual Content, Modern AU, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Lafayette, Nothing explicit mostly flashbacks ish, Pining, TW abuse at the chapters with James, alex is kind of an ass sorry, he's secretly seeing both Eliza and Maria, jefferson is really nice in this one how did that happen, maria is kinda damaged, this fic is abandoned sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-11-03 00:37:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10956063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isoldmysoultocrowley/pseuds/Isoldmysoultocrowley
Summary: Eliza Schuyler and Maria Lewis are, unknowingly, both in relationships with Alexander Hamilton. But when the Schuyler household hosts their annual Winter's Ball, things take a turn.





	1. 1: Eliza's POV

**Author's Note:**

> So when I first heard of Marliza I immediately pictured them in a "he was dating us both at the same time??? fuck no let's date each other" AU so I just had to write it.  
> I'll do my best to not rush the plot though, as I usually do.  
> Also, Trigger Warning: Abuse at the chapter where James Reynolds appears in because of...obvious reasons.  
> Also forgive me for some inaccuracy bc they're in college and I'm a swedish teenager so I have like literally no idea how it's like other than what google can give me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorryy this chapter is kinda short. I promise the other ones will be longer and have more plot.

As soon as Eliza entered the café, she looked around the room and her eyes fell on Alexander. He was sitting at their usual table, the cozy one in the left corner, right by the window. His hair was tied up in a messy bun, and as usual he looked tired and worn out, with very noticeable dark rings under his eyes. He was frowning slightly at his laptop, as if to figure something out. Eliza had to admit, Alexander looked very cute when confuesed. She tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear and walked up to him.  
His eyes lit up and he grinned when he saw her. She smiled back. 

"Hey 'Liza" he said with a smile. She found it quite endearing how he insisted on calling her a shortened version, of the shortened version of her actual name.  
He pulled her in for a quick peck on the lips before she sat down. 

"So, what are you writing?" she asked, gesturing to his laptop. 

Alexander shrugged and closed the laptop. "Nah, nothing special. School stuff."

Eliza nodded. "As usual, right?" she said with a chuckle in an attempt to start a conversation. But she knew and she understood. Alexander had really been busy with school a lot lately, he was apparently working on this huge history project with Hercules Mulligan and John Laurens right now. He had even had to reschedule or even cancel some of his dates with her. She was glad the courses she was taking weren't quite as stressful as Alexander's. 

"Are you gonna order anything?" he asked her, with an awkward smile, ignoring her previous question.

Eliza wasn't sure why what she said had made the mood weird. "Uhm, yeah, right." she said and smiled at him as she made her way to the line at the checkout.  
She ordered green tea and a scone. When she got her order, she went back to the table and noticed that Alexander seemed to be texting someone. She pulled her chair out with a bit of force, to get his attention without commenting on how he wasn't very social at the moment.

Alexander put his phone down and smiled at Eliza. "The usual, huh?". He gestured to her tea and scone.

She smiled back at him. "Yeah." she paused, and then remembered the actual reason she had asked to meet him here. "So, you know that my father hosts this annual Winter's Ball, right?"

Alexander nodded. "Right."

"And, I was kinda wondering if you'd like to go with me? To the ball." When Alexander's eyes widened, she quickly continued, "I mean, I know you're not a fan of big fancy gatherings, and I know you're not really fond of rich people like my father but I just thought it might be fun, and I'm sure he'd be really pleased to meet you! And - "

She was cut off by a finger gently pressed to her lips and Alexander's smile. "Of course I'll go with you 'Liza, don't worry." he grinned. "As for rich people like your father, I'll calm my argumentative side and not get into any heated debate during the Ball. For you."  
Eliza chuckled at his heartfelt grin and leaned in to kiss him. Alexander closed the space between them by gently placing a hand on the back of her head and pulling her closer. His lips were soft and tasted like coffee.

They sat in the café for hours, just chatting about everything. Eliza admired Alexander's skill of being able to talk about anything with anyone. It lead to no awkward silences, and Eliza was happy about that, because awkward silences were the worst. 

After a while, Alexander's phone kept occasionally getting texts, and Eliza started to wonder who it was, because Alexander apparently felt the need to answer every single one. 

"Who's texting you?" she asked casually. She wasn't paranoid or anything, she trusted Alexander, she was just kind of annoyed that the constant texting kept interrupting their conversation.

"Huh?" he asked. Apparently he hadn't heard her question.

"I said, who are you texting?" she said with a smile to let him know that she wasn't angry, just curious. 

"Oh," he said with a moments hesitation. "It's just-"  
He paused. He was staring past Eliza, out the window, as if he just spotted a hungry lion running towards him. "Hercules. He and John need help with our project, because the fourth guy in our group, eh, John Jay, apparently dropped out of college yesterday."

"Oh" Eliza said. That didn't exactly sound very believable. There was a fourth guy? She'd never heard about him. "Well," she said hesitantly, "if you need to help them, I guess you could-"

She was interrupted by Alexander thanking her and quickly kissing her cheek before gathering his stuff and leaving, without even maning eye contact with her.

She wasn't gonna lie, she felt a bit hurt. She saw Alexander hurrying down the street outside, he was almost running. 

Eliza took a sip of her tea and a bite if her scone. Why had Alexander run off like that? Did she overwhelm him with the Ball thing? She knew he didn't like these kinds of things but since they'd been dating for a long time she felt like it would be fun to being him, the ball was actually great, even Alexander could surely have a good time there. Was it something else she said? What did she even say? Okay, she needed to get her mind off Alexander's weird behaviour, maybe he actually needed to help his friends with their project. Yeah. That was probably, actually it. 

After just a moment she noticed a girl entering the café. The girl looked about Eliza's age and she had curly, dark hair. She had full lips and she was wearing bright red lipstick. She was wearing a black leather jacket over a red, tight dress. The dress reached to the middle of her thigh, and it captured her curves in a great way. The girl was very pretty. 

Eliza caught herself staring and quickly looked away when the girl met her eyes. She didn't really know what to expect when the girl walked up to her after getting her coffee from the barista. 

"Hi" she girl said. "Mind if I sit here? The place's pretty crowded."

"No, not at all" Eliza said, moving her bag from the other chair to make space.

"Thanks." the girl said and smiled. "I'm Maria, by the way." she added.

"I'm Eliza."

They made small talk for a while, it was nice, but then Angelica called and told Eliza that she had to go home immediately, because Peggy still hadn't made it home from Jefferson's party she had attended the night before and Angelica wanted to make sure she hadn't passed out in a trench or something. And she wanted Eliza's help.

Eliza told Maria everything Angelica had said.  
"Jefferson?" Maria said in disbelief. "Thomas Jefferson?" "You know Jefferson?" Eliza asked. "Ehh.. yeah kinda." Maria said and chuckled. "I might've been friends with him for a while. We've kinda lost contact by now." she paused. "Okay you probably wanna go find your sister. You can never trust a drunk Jefferson with the safety of his guests."

"You probably can't trust a sober Jefferson with it either" Eliza added.

Maria laughed. "True." Eliza gathered her things and headed to the door. "See you" she said.

"Yeah. See you."


	2. 2: Maria's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 1 was about Alex and Eliza, here's Alex and Maria. I won't keep this cheating up for long I promise.  
> James Reynolds is mentioned in this chapter, but he's not actually in it.  
> Also, nothing happens, but rape is mentioned. It doesn't happen though. And it's not part of a flashback or anything, it doesn't happen at all, but it's mentioned.

Maria sighed as she saw a group of friends, approximately about twenty people, enter the bar. Being a barista was pretty stressful when big gatherings of people decided to get drunk together. They would order a few drinks, then they would order some refills, then they would get tipsy and start ordering things for each other, and maybe start some kind of shot contest. However it goes, it would end with people throwing up, and Maria working overtime to clean it. As usual. Ew.

Maria wasn't really sure why she had applied for this job in the first place. She had desperately needed money, because she had just left her ex-boyfriend, James, and she hadn't really realised how dependent she had become on him. He had been quite, well, very manipulative, and he had made her move in with him in his apartment when she was 18. She had finally managed to leave him last year. This job was the only way for her to afford a decent living. But it was certainly worth it, compared to keep living with James Reynolds. 

She put down the glass she was cleaning and went up to the counter to take the friends' order. 

When she was done serving their drinks no more people had entered the bar, so she allowed herself to sit down and take a little break until they'd order more.  
She looked around the bar to see if anyone she knew happened to be there. Maybe Thomas would. He liked these kinds of places. But of course he wasn't there, he was probably still at home with some awful hangover. After all, he had apparently had a big party about three days ago. So, no, Thomas wouldn't be here right now. Maybe Eliza was here? Maria didn't really know why she'd immediately become attached to the girl she talked to in the coffee shop two days ago, but Eliza just seemed genuinely, nice? She just seemed like she'd be a great. But she probably wasn't the type of person to go to bars. Also, most people just came there to flirt or find a hookup, and Eliza had told Maria that she was in a stable and loving relationship with her boyfriend.  
Maria was still eyeing the crowd. She noticed a couple sitting at a table, separated from the rest of the crowd. The woman seemed to be searching for something in her bag. While her back was turned to the table, the man discreetly poured something into her drink. Oh no. Maria had seen this before. She quickly got to her feet and walked towards their table. She had served them their drinks quite recently, so hopefully this would work.

"Excuse me, miss" Maria said brightly. "I think I might've given you the wrong drink"

The woman blinked. "Oh, well it's fine, I-"

Maria picked her drink up. "I'm terribly sorry, I'll make a new one for you. It won't take long." She gestured for the woman to come with her. "Come look at the menu and tell me which drink you wanted."

She woman hesitated but stood up. "Okay..-"

"But I thought you said the drink looked great when you got it, Angelica." the man interrupted.

"Well, good looks doesn't always equal good taste" Maria said. "This won't take long."

They walked past the counter and stopped at a corner where they were out of sight. The woman, Angelica, furrowed her eyebrows. "Why didn't we stop at the counter?"

"I didn't give you the wrong drink." Maria confessed. "But I saw your date pour something into your glass while you were searching your bag, and I didn't want to risk anything."

Angelica seemed speechless. "Oh my god.." she said quietly, processing the thought.

"You can take the staff's door on your way out so he won't see you leaving." Maria continued. "I'll stay here for a while so you'll have time to get on the bus or take a cab without him following you."

Angelica was quiet for a moment. "Thank you so much." she said. She held out her hand. "I'm Angelica Schuyler."

Maria shook it. "Maria Lewis. Also, Schuyler as in The Schuylers or do you just happen to have the same last name."

Angelica chuckled. "As in The Schuylers." 

"Cool." Maria said. "I met your sister, Eliza, the other day."

"Really? huh." Angelica said. She paused. "I should probably get going." 

"I'll follow you to the bus" Maria said. Angelica smiled in return.

"So, I heard you're still hosting your annual fancy ball" Maria said in an attempt at small talk. She said "fancy ball" in a playful mocking tone. 

"Yeah we are." Angelica. "But this year it's actually not invites only. Anyone can come, although if you're not invited, you'll have to pay 20 dollars to come. My dad is desperately trying to make money of anything." she said with a sigh.

"Sounds fun." Maria said. "What's the theme this year?"

"The 1700's" Angelica answered. "You wanna come? I could invite you, you wouldn't have to pay."

Maria raised her eyebrows. "For real? That would actually be great." she said and grinned.

"Great!" Angelica exclaimed. "I'll put you on the guest list. Your name is Maria....?"

"Lewis." Maria filled in.

Angelica nodded. "Got it."

They reached the bus stop. "Thanks again, for everything." Angelica said.

"No problem." Maria reassured her. 

They said goodbye and Maria walked back to the bar. The creepy guy had left. Good. She went to get his empty glass from the table when someone called her name. She looked back and was met by Alexander Hamilton's charming smile. She grinned back. 

She put the dirty glass away and walked up to Alex. He pulled her in for a kiss and she happily kissed him back. 

Maria felt one of Alex's hands in her hair and the other was sliding down her back. She broke the kiss before got got too heated.  
She took his hand and led him to the counter where she started making him a drink. 

"So," she said while looking for the right bottle, "What brings you here?"

"Nothing special, just wanted to see you." Alex said with a grin.

Maria smiled back. "Have you heard the Schuylers are allowing anyone to come to their ball, as long as they pay?" she asked.

"Really?" Alexander said. Then he sighed "Of course they'd let anyone in, just to make money."

Maria nodded. She hesitated for a moment. "Should we go?" She didn't wanna tell him she got invited by Angelica, because Alex wasn't really a big fan of the Schuylers and she didn't want him to feel obliged to go with her. 

Alex hesitated for a moment. Then he shook his head. "Nah, I don't feel like going. It's not worth spending money on." 

Maria nodded. "Totally not." she said. She handed him his drink. Well, she was going to go even if Alex wasn't there. She would at least have Eliza and Angelica there.

They talked for a while, or, Alexander complained about his day while Maria listened. Then Maria glanced at jer phone and saw that it was 9:30 pm. 

"My shift ends in half an hour, but I could probably get off early." she said.

Alexander raised his eyebrows. "Wanna go to my apartment?"

Maria grinned. "Sure."

Alexander's apartment wasn't very far away, so they decided to walk. Maria took Alexander's hand and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was so thankful for Alex. He appreciated her, he treated her well, he loved her. She was so glad he was a genuinely good person, she hadn't been that lucky last time, with James.

They reached the apartment and went inside.

"Ugh, I need to change." Maria said. "These shirts they make us wear at work are so uncomfortable."

Alexander nodded. "I think some of your clothes are in there." he said and gestured to a closet.

Maria opened it and took an oversized T-shirt from the messy pile of clothes. She started unbuttoning her shirt. After about three buttons she felt Alex embrace her from behind. 

"Let me" he said, and unbuttoned the rest for her. She felt soft kisses down her neck. She took her shirt off but didn't bother to put on the T-shirt. She turned around and pressed her lips to Alex's. 

They kissed for a while and then Maria took Alexander's hand and led him to the bed. He pulled off his shirt and gently laid down with her. She laid herself on top of him and started kissing his chest, slowly making her way down. 


	3. A Winter's Ball - Eliza's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander is attending the ball as Eliza's date. Maria is also going. Do I need to say more?

Eliza checked the time. 8:48 am. She rose from her bed and streched her arms. It felt weird being back in her parents house. She and Peggy had basically lived in Angelica's apartment lately, trying to get used to a relatively normal life, where you didn't live in a house as big as a manor and didn't have your parents do everything for you. But now, these few days before the ball, they had all three lived with their parents. Eliza put on a pair of slippers and walked downstairs. The staircase was big and white, everything in this house was just generally fancy. She walked across the huge hall and into the kitchen. Her father was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper and stirring his spoon in a cup of coffee. He smiled warmly when he saw her.

"Good morning Betsey" he said and put down the newspaper. Her father was probably the only person who never shortened her name to Eliza, but to Betsey. 

"'Morning, dad" she said in response. "Is no one else awake yet?" 

"Of course not" her father said with a chuckle. "Catherine never wakes up before 9:30, and I suppose the same goes for Angelica and Margarita."

"True" Eliza said with a grin. She was always the first one to wake up in the apartment. She opened the fridge and grabbed some yoghurt and apple juice. 

"So, are you bringing anyone to the ball?" her dad asked. He had always been very interested in his daughters love lives. It was kind of awkward, and Eliza tried to tell him as little as possible, but he had probably figured out that Eliza was dating Alexander on his own. 

"I'm bringing Alexander" she said. 

"Alexander Hamilton?" 

"Yes"

Her father seemed content. "As of what I've heard, he seems like a great person. He's very interested in politics, isn't he?"

Eliza nodded. "He is. And he's always ready to debate anyone and anything." she added.

Mr Schuyler smiled. "Do you know if any of your sisters are bringing anyone?" he asked.

Eliza hesitated. "I don't think so, but I'm not sure. Of what I know they're not bringing any dates."

Her father nodded. "Alright. I should go check if we have forgotten any of the preparations." he said and rose from his seat.

 

\---

 

"I CAN'T BREATHE I SWEAR THIS THING IS 5 SIZES TO SMALL."

Angelica just laughed at her sister. "Peggy, it's a corset. They're supposed to be tight." 

The Schuylers' Winter's Ball always had a special theme. The theme for this ball was the 18th century. Eliza, Angelica, and Peggy were all going to wear big puffy dresses. Peggy's was yellow, Angelica's was pink, and Eliza's was blue. Unfortunately, corsets was part of the dresses. Peggy had been complaining about it since they had decided the theme. 

"But are they supposed to be killing you??" Peggy snapped back. 

"Peggy you'll survive." Eliza said. She was currently putting on her makeup, while Angelica was helping Peggy with her dress. 

They all had their hair loose but tied back with bobby pins. They also had the same kind of dresses, just different colors. They were gonna be the most iconic trio at the ball. Eliza wondered what Alexander would wear. The thought of him trying to put together a good 1700s inspired outfit was hilarious, since Alex's usual outfit was just a pair of black jeans and a plain gray hoodie. He probably had Lafayette help him this time.

 

\---

 

The clock was eight and the first guests had arrived. Of the invited people, George and Martha Washington had come, and also Aaron Burr and Theodosia Barthow. After a little while Thomas Jefferson and James Madison entered the hall. Thomas was wearing a long, magenta colored coat with incredibly many golden buttons. Not that Eliza had expected any less from him. He liked standing out from the crowd.

About twenty minutes later, they entered. Alexander, John, Hercules, and Lafayette. They were all wearing dark blue coats and white loose pants with knee high socks. All except Hercules had their hair tied back in ponytails. Alexander looked ridiculously handsome. He was grinning confidently and his eyes light up when he caught her eye. He walked up to her, leaving his friends behind. 

"Hello beautiful" he said with a charming smile and extended his arm. 

Eliza beamed. "Hello handsome" she said and took his arm. 

"But for real though," Alexander said, "You look absolutely stunning. Dress, hair, everything."

"Thanks, although this corset is literally killing me" Eliza said and earned a small laugh from Alexander. "You don't look that bad yourself" she added.

"Why, thank you, miss Schuyler." he said in a sarcastic 1700s manner.

They walked around and talked with some different people. Eliza had to drag Alexander away from arguing with Jefferson three times in half an hour. After a while they crossed paths with Philip and Catherine Schuyler in the crowd. 

"Well if it isn't the famous Alexander Hamilton!" Mrs Schuyler exclaimed, earning a blush from Eliza. Luckily, Alexander didn't comment on it, but shook Mrs Schuyler hand. 

"I guess I am" he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Schuyler." he turned to Eliza's father. "And you, Mr Schuyler."

"Oh, Philip, please." Mr Scuyler said as he shook Alexander's hand.

Alexander nodded. "Philip it is then, sir."

They chatted for a while. Eliza was relieved they didn't really get to the topic of politics, because Alexander could be very, uhm, passionate, in his opinions and if someone disagreed is usually didn't end well. 

Eliza scanned the crowd and spotted a girl with long curly hair wearing a dark red dress talking to Angelica. Maria. Eliza suddenly remembered that Angelica had mentioned inviting her to the ball. Eliza tapped Alexander's shoulder.

"I'm just gonna go say hi to Maria, I won't be long." she said and left Alexander with her parents. 

Alex furrowed his eyebrows. "Who's Mar-..." he started but never finished his sentence. Eliza was already on her way through the crowd and didn't see Alexander's eyes widen. 

\---

"Maria!" Eliza exclaimed as she walked up to the girls. 

Maria turned to her and smiled brightly when she met Eliza's eyes. "Hey!" she said.

Eliza suddenly remembered that they had only properly met once and that Maria might not even remember her well. "We met in the coffee shop that one time, you remember, right?" 

"Of course I do" Maria said, to Eliza's relief. She hadn't embarrassed herself, that's good. She did usually get attached to people very early on, and some found that weird.

"So, are you having fun?" Eliza asked.

Maria nodded. "Well, it was a bit awkward at first because I didn't know anyone, but then I noticed Angelica so now it's fine" she said with a nervous laugh.

"Didn't you say you knew Jefferson?" Eliza asked. 

"Well yeah, but I haven't talked to him for a while. Also he's probably busy making out with Madison somewhere." she said with a chuckle. She paused. "There, uhm...a man named James Reynolds doesn't happen to be here, right?"

Eliza furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't think so. He wasn't on our guest list. And I greet the most guests and I haven't met any James Reynolds." she hesitated. "Why?"

Maria shook her head. "No reason."

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation but they're serving drinks now" Angelica said and gestured to the huge table a few feet away. 

"Ooh nice" Eliza said.

\---

They got their drinks and walked back to where they had been standing before. They continued chatting for a while, but soon Maria suddenly stopped talking.

"Maria?" Angelica said.

"Excuse me..." she said. 'I'll be back in just a moment. I gotta say hello to someone." 

"Okay" Angelica said as Maria walked through the crowd. 

Eliza looked to where Maria was going, to see who she had spotted. She walked towards Alexander and his group of friends. Maybe she knew one of them. Alexander seemed stressed, and was talking non stop to John, who's expression Eliza couldn't read. She watched as Maria walked up to them and put her hand on Alexander's shoulder. He turned around with wide eyes and he looked...distressed? He looked around the crowd.Eliza smiled at him, but he didn't seem to notice her. Maria was talking to him and smiling. He seemed to relax. They chatted for a while, laughed together. And then Maria placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed him. 

Eliza didn't know what to do. It was when Alexander didn't push her away, when he smiled at her afterwards, when he continued talking as if nothing had happened, realization dawned on Eliza. She felt as though someone had forcibly pulled her heart out of her chest and thrown it to the ground, breaking it into a million pieces, like a porcelain vase.

She stood still, not hearing Angelica calling her name. She just stood there, watching Alexander. He seemed to scan the crowd again, and this time they locked eyes. She saw how his expression changed when he realized what she'd seen. Eliza felt her eyes burning and her lip tremble. No, she thought. Not here. She turned back to Angelica.

"Eliza - oh my god" she said when she saw tears running down her sisters face. 

Eliza walked past Angelica, ignoring Peggy calling her name, carefully avoided her parents, and practically ran up the stairs. 

She ran into her bedroom. She removed her corset, her big skirt, she only left the simple white nightgown-ish dress the wore under the blue one, and collapsed on her bed. Eliza's breath was shaky and tears were rolling down her cheeks. She heard a knock on the bedroom door. Peggy carefully opened the door.

"Eliza? - can I...?" she gestured to where Eliza was sitting.

Eliza couldn't bother to tell her to go away or to leave her alone. She said nothing.

Peggy closed the door behind her and sat down beside Eliza. She wrapped her arms around her sister and Eliza leaned into the hug. She was shaking with sobs. How did this happen? Why? He cheated on her. Cheated. Who gets cheated on? This whole situation was pathetic and Eliza felt helpless and humiliated. 

"Shh it's okay" Peggy said softly and hugged Eliza tighter. "Angelica is dealing with him downstairs." she continued. "He probably won't dare to set his foot anywhere within 20 miles of our house ever again." she said with a soft chuckle, in an attempt to make Eliza laugh. It didn't work. Eliza just couldn't bring herself to laugh right now.

They sat there for what seemed like forever.


	4. Maria's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that we've got Alexander out of the way, let the slow burn begin...

Maria didn't know what to do. She was a mess.

She had had such a nice time talking to Eliza and Angelica at the ball, and then Alex had shown up out of nowhere. Maria had been a bit confused at first, because he had said that he didn't want to go when she had asked him, but then she spotted Laurens, Mulligan, and Lafayette and figured they had dragged him along.

He had been acting a bit strange and awkward when she first approached him, but after a while he seemed relaxed and back to normal. They talked, laughed, kissed. But then all of a sudden she had noticed Alex's face. His eyes were wide and he bit his bottom lip hard. Maria had asked if something was wrong and when he didn't respond she turned to face whatever he was looking at. Her eyes had immediately fallen on Eliza, and Maria's heart broke at the sight of her. Eliza was staring straight at Alexander with an unreadable facial expression but soon her lip had begun to tremble and tears were rolling down her face. At first she didn't understand what was going on, but when she moved towards Eliza, Alexander stopped her by gripping her arm. She flinched at the sudden touch but he didn't seem to notice. He was still looking towards where Eliza had been standing. That was when Maria understood. Not long after, Angelica walked up to them, ice cold expression on her face. Maria couldn't quite process what she said to Alexander, she was too busy processing this whole scenario, but Angelica sounded incredibly angry. She even threw him out of the party.

When Alexander had left, Angelica turned to Maria. Her face wasn't ice anymore, her expression was soft. She must've understood that Maria didn't know more about this situation than Eliza had done. Angelica opened her mouth to say something, but Maria walked away before she could finish her sentence and left the ball.

Thankfully, no one followed her.

Right now, two days later, she was sitting in her apartment staring into thin air, playing the scenario in her head over and over again. Alexander had cheated on her. Her Alexander. She thought he had genuinely loved her. Maria chuckled sadly to herself. She should've seen this coming. She was pathetic to ever have even thought he actually loved her. She was pathetic to think that anyone could ever love her. She was damaged, she was boring, she got attached way too easily. She was love starved and went after the first guy who had shown a little bit of interest in her after James. Oh god. She really was a mess. She had gotten together with James before she really had become her own person. And he had kinda formed her into this desperate, attention seeking, self loathing mess she was today. 

She closed her eyes and reminded herself to take deep breaths and not get lost in her thoughts. She was desperately trying to think of something positive. The first thing that came to her mind was Eliza. But, oh god, Eliza was a part of this mess too. Maria had to check if she was okay. But probably the last thing Eliza wanted right now was to talk to the girl her boyfriend had cheated on her with. 

She decided to text Angelica.

 

To Angelica: Hi, it's Maria. I was just wondering, how's Eliza doing? I thought about texting her, but I'm probably the last person on earth she wants to talk to right now.

To Angelica: You probably don't want to talk to me either, but I really want to know if she's okay.

 

Maria locked her phone and put it down. Angelica probably wouldn't answer. Why would she. She was probably as angry with Maria as she was with Alexander. Maria stood up to to go make herself some tea when her phone buzzed. She immediately picked it up.

 

From Angelica: Eliza is sad, but it's nothing that won't pass in a day or two. Don't worry.

 

Maria started typing a response when Angelica sent another text.

 

From Angelica: And don't blame yourself, please. Eliza is not mad at you at all, she knows that you didn't know more about this than she did. 

 

Maria felt relieved to read that. But she still couldn't escape the feeling that this was somehow her fault.

 

To Angelica: Okay, I really hope she'll feel better soon.

 

Maria put down her phone and made herself some tea. Knowing that Eliza was alright made her feel a bit better. 

 

\----------------------------

 

Maria woke up the next morning to her phone buzzing. She lazily reached for it. The clock read 9:54 am. She was surprised to see that what woke her up was a text from Eliza.

 

From Eliza: Hi Maria. I thought we could meet up and maybe grab breakfast somewhere, and talk. Would that be okay with you? /Eliza 

To Eliza: That would be great actually. Where?

Eliza responded almost immediately.

From Eliza: Libertea? 

To Eliza: I'll be there in about 20 minutes.

From Eliza: perfect.

 

Libertea was the café where they had met that one time. Thankfully it was pretty close to Maria's place. She had to admit, she was a bit nervous about talking to Eliza. Maria was about 90% sure Eliza was going to talk about what happened with Alexander, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about that. But she didn't want Eliza to think that she was avoiding her in any way.

Maria got up from her bed, brushed her teeth, and changed. She put on black jeans and a white sweater. She considered going completely without makeup, but she ended up doing her eyebrows and putting on her signature red lipstick. 

 

\---------------------------------------------------

 

When Maria arrived Eliza was already there. She was sitting at a table, stirring her spoon in a cup of tea. Maria ordered a latte at the counter and walked up to the table and sat down. Eliza smiled weakly at her. 

"Are you okay?" Maria said before Eliza had had the chance to ask her the same. 

Eliza hesitated. "I'm dealing. I was heartbroken at first, I kept wondering if it was my fault that he cheated and I was sad because I didn't want to believe he could do something like this." she paused. "But, uhm, Angelica talked to me for a while, probably over an hour, about how everything was completely his fault and that he's a complete asshole. I'm still sad, but I'm feeling a lot better now than before. Angelica is very convincing." she said with a chuckle.

"That's good." 

"What about you?" 

There comes the dreaded question. Eliza's concerned look didn't make Maria feel any better.

"I'm fine." she said.

Eliza furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you sure?"

Maria nodded. "Well, of course I'm sad and all that, but it'll be fine." she added, unsurely.

Eliza gave her a soft smile in response. "Well, I'm always here if you need to talk to someone." she said.

Maria smiled and nodded. Eliza smiled back, but the concern didn't quite leave her face. 

"Now let's talk about something happier." Eliza said in an attempt to lighten the mood. 

"Yeah." Maria agreed. She had had enough of Alexander Hamilton. 

They sat there chatting, for hours. Maria really liked Eliza's company, there was always something they could talk about. And everytime Maria said something, Eliza gave her her full attention. Maria felt appreciated for the first time in years, and she never wanted this moment to end. She didn't know what she would've done if Eliza had been angry with her. She just now realized, that this girl she had known for a couple of weeks, was probably her closest friend by now.


	5. Eliza's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is basically here to give the characters a chance to bond more. Also I'm sorry it's really short and has no plot I kinda got writer's block in the middle of writing it lol.

"I'm so fucking bored." Peggy whined. "Ever since the Winter's Ball, which wasn't even fun, I haven't done anything this entire break."

Eliza rolled her eyes at her sister. "You've done plenty of things. Or are parties the only thing that matters to you?" she asked in a slight mocking tone.

Peggy gasped. "We should host a house party!" she said with excitement.

"Pegs have you completely forgotten that we're at our parents' house?"

Peggy sighed. "I just wanna have fun with my friends is that too much to ask?" she said dramatically.

Suddenly Angelica's voice was heard from across the room. "Eliza don't let Peggy bring alcohol into this house."

"Obviously I won't, I don't have a death wish" she said with a chuckle.

Eliza was stuck in her thoughts for a while. It really had been a while since she had spent some quality time with people. Suddenly an idea hit her. 

"Ooh maybe we could have like, a sleepover-" she was interrupted by Peggy snorting. "-shut up Pegs- We could plan a fun cozy night with our friends, without alcohol, I'm sure dad wouldn't have anything against that."

"But which people would we invite?" Angelica asked, eyebrow raised.

"Well, not too many, maybe like, two, three people each?" Eliza suggested.

Angelica nodded. "Cool." she said and returned her focus to her phone.

Eliza turned back to Peggy, who seemed content with the idea. 

 

\------------------------------------------------

 

Eliza knew that this wasn't anything formal, but she still wanted to look good. They had made the dress code clear to the guests, sweatpants were mandatory. 

She searched her wardrobe for something that would make her look effortlessly cute (yes, she put an effort into looking effortlessly cute) and decided to go with a pair of baby blue sweatpants, and a black tank top. She debated whether to tie her hair up or not. She ended up doing a loose ponytail, leaving a few tiny strands of hair down to frame her face.

Eliza had invited Maria and Hercules Mulligan. She was well aware of the fact that Hercules was a friend of Alexander, but both him and Lafayette (who Peggy was inviting, by the way) had apologised to Eliza and had made it clear that they had no idea what Alexander had been doing and they agreed that he had been acting like a complete ass. That was good, because Eliza had gotten to know the two of them pretty well through Alexander, and she didn't want to lose any friends because of all that happened. 

Apart from Lafayette, Peggy had also invited Theodosia Bartow. Eliza didn't know her very well, but Peggy insisted that she was fun. Angelica had invited none other than Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Eliza didn't really have anything against them, but she hoped things wouldn't get weird since Lafayette and Mulligan didn't like them very much. She also recalled Maria saying that she knew Jefferson. 

Eliza had prepared snacks, games, and movies in one of the bigger rooms in their house, and now they were just waiting for everyone to come. 

 

\------------------------------------------------

 

The first one to arrive was Theodosia. Later came Mulligan and Lafayette, and then Jefferson and Madison. Where was Maria? Eliza checked her phone for the time, and it wasn't even very late. Maria would show up. Probably. Eliza laughed internally at herself. Maria isn't even five minutes late and she's already worrying if something happened. 

Her thoughts was interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

"I'll go get it" she said and walked downstairs to the door.

She opened it and, just as she assumed, there stood Maria. Eliza greeted her and gestured for her to step inside. 

"Whoah" Maria said quietly. "This place looks much bigger when it's not crowded."

"Yeah, uhm, it's, pretty big" Eliza said awkwardly. She had never really liked being the typical rich kid with a huge fancy house. That's why she basically lived at Angelica's. 

Maria took her coat and boots off. She was wearing black sweatpants and a red knitted sweater. Of what Eliza could see she wasn't wearing any makeup. She looked really pretty. 

They walked up the stairs into the room where the others were. Maria raised her eyebrows when she caught sight of Jefferson.

"Hey Jeffs" she said and smiled warmly.

He practically jumped up from the couch to go hug Maria tightly. "Mariaaaa it's been so long!" he exclaimed. "Also, never call me Jeffs again." 

"Sure thing, Macaroni Man" she said. James snorted. Thomas pouted in return.

There was a pause.

"How have you been?" he asked. There was a strange tone to his question, like he was a bit afraid to ask. Maybe he was thinking of the Alexander thing.

Eliza watched this interesting exchange curiously. They seemed to be really good friends. Maria had told Eliza that they had known each other before but lost touch. She wondered how close they had been.

Maria sat down beside Madison on the couch and Eliza took a seat next to her. 

 

\------------------------------------------------------

 

After an...interesting, game of Cards Against Humanity and three empty chips bags Angelica demanded they watch a movie. 

Thomas face lit up. "Ooh let's watch a romance!" he said. "Like The Notebook!" James stole an affectionate glance at his excitement. 

Theodosia groaned. "I don't feel like watching a cliché love story" She earned a glare from Thomas and a nod in agreement from Peggy.

"An action movie?" Peggy suggested. "Maybe something Marvel or DC?"

Lafayette smirked mischievously and shot a glance at Mulligan. "How about something Disney? Like..."

"Don't you dare"

"...Hercules" 

Mulligan groaned.

"But let's be real that is a great movie" Maria said. "I'd like to watch it"

Lafayette grinned at Maria. "All in favour of watching Hercules" they said and put their hand up. Everyone eventually put their hands up, except Thomas, who still insisted on The Notebook, and Hercules.

"Hercules it is then!" Angelica exclaimed. 

Mulligan rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Everyone cuddled closer together as Angelica started the movie. Lafayette wiggled their eyebrows suggestively at Mulligan when the muse said "Hercules, more like Hunk-ules!", and Hercules playfully elbowed Lafayette in the side. Maria rested her head on Eliza's shoulder, and a strange warmth spread through Eliza's chest. She ignored it and leaned into the touch. 

 

\---------------------------------------------

 

Eliza didn't know when she had fallen asleep. She just knew that right now, she was being crushed between Hercules and Maria. And she really needed to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, right now, she had Maria's head on her lap and Hercules' whole body leaning against her side, so she had no shot at moving without waking at least one of them up. She carefully started to dislocate herself from the position she was in. She sat up straight, and managed to get Hercules to lay down behind her on the couch instead of leaning on her. Now she just had Maria to deal with. During the night her head had slided down from Eliza's shoulder to her lap. Maria was really cuddled up on her new pillow, and she looked so peaceful Eliza almost considered not moving at all and waiting until Maria woke up instead. Unfortunately, her body told her otherwise, she really needed to go to the bathroom. She gently cupped Maria's head in her hands and carefully moved away. Just as she had laid Maria's head back down she heard a soft groan. Damn it. She had woken her up. 

"Eliza?" Maria said in a raspy morning voice. "Where are you going?"

Maria looked quite endearing, squinting at Eliza through her wild curls. Eliza smiled softly at her. "I'm just going to the bathroom" she said quietly, careful to not wake the others. 

"m'kay" Maria mumbled in response. 

When Eliza came back from the bathroom Maria was sitting up, rubbing her eyes. No one else had woken up yet. 

"Do you want to go with me to grab some breakfast?" she asked Maria. 

Maria shrugged. "Sure"

-

"So how do you know Jefferson?" Eliza asked as they made their way down the stairs.

"Thomas and I went to the same high school" Maria answered shortly. 

Eliza hesitated. "You seem really close"

"Yeah" Maria said. "We were." she paused, as if debating whether to continue or not. "He, uhm, was there for me when I was, uh, in a dark place, I..-" 

Maria's voice got weaker the more she talked and Eliza felt a pang of guilt for making her uncomfortable in this way.

"You - you really don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable" Eliza quickly said, not wanting to bother Maria.

Maria visibly relaxed, and smiled weakly. She breathed out a soft "thank you". 

 

\------------------------------------------

 

The morning passedby quite uneventful. Eliza and Maria made some waffles and coffee, and talked about good things that didn't make either uncomfortable. Not much later they were joined by Theodosia, Madison, and Jefferson. Later came Angelica, and then Lafayette, Mulligan, and Peggy.

They chatted lightheartedly through breakfast and everyone eventually dropped out. Thomas and James had to leave to make it in time to a movie they were going to watch together, Hercules had to leave because John had called him screaming about how he had accidentally set their microwave on fire, and Lafayette went with him. Theodosia eventually left as well. 

The sisters and Maria sat in silence for a while.

"I, uh, I guess I should probably leave now as well" Maria said hesitantly.

"No!" Eliza exclaimed a bit too quickly, earning a glance from Angelica. "I mean you're welcome to stay a while longer, but if you want to leave, sure that's totally okay, but you-"

Maria gently cut her off. "I think I've got some stuff to do back at my apartment anyway, so.."

Eliza nodded. "Okay." 

Maria thanked them for everything, got her coat and boots and left. Eliza slowly closed the door and turned back to Angelica and Peggy. She noticed them both eyeing her curiously but she decided to ignore it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel bad for including Laf and Herc but not John ahh my poor son but I didn't wanna include all three of them bc I felt as that would be unrealistic and Laf and Herc are such an iconic duo sooo,,, sorry Laurens


	6. Maria's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria is working a late shift at the bar and things don't go very well when a certain person drops by..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Abuse (mostly flashbacks) and a borderline panic attack.  
> edit: wHAT happened to all the spaces between paragraphs this shit happened yesterday as well I hate everything.

Maria closed the door and put her bag down. She glanced at the clock. 5.30 pm. That gave her 3 hours before she needed to be at work. She took her shoes off and collapsed on the couch. She was so fucking tired. She had so much schoolwork plus her job, she barely had any time to rest. The sleepover(?) at the Schuylers' had been relaxing, it had been like taking a break from life for a while. Just her and her friends. Maria suddenly felt anxious. Could she call them friends? She supposed Thomas was technically her friend, they had been close, especially during the time he helped her find the courage to leave James Reynolds. Maybe this mutual friendship with the Schuyler sisters would bring them closer again. That would be nice. So, yes she could probably consider Thomas a friend. James Madison? She barely knew him, the only time she spent with him was with Thomas, and that wasn't very much anymore.. James was more of an acquaintance. So was Mulligan, Lafayette, and Peggy. Angelica, she knew. But were they close enough to be considered friends? The same thing goes for Eliza. Not that Maria didn't want to consider them her friends, she really did, but what if they didn't consider her a friend? What if she referred to them as friends sometime and they would be weirded out bc "is this what she considers friendship? that's pathetic she must be very lonely".

Maria shook her head lightly to clear her thoughts. She needed to get started on her essay that was due in two weeks before she had to go to work. 

 

\----------------------------------------------

 

At 8.15 she gathered her stuff and walked to the bar where she worked. Thankfully it wasn't a very long walk. When she entered the bar it was crowded. She scanned the bar for familiar faces. None of her friends were there. Typical. The only ones she recognised were some regular customers. A guy was sitting alone at the same table for the fifth time this week. To be honest, that was just sad. She left her stuff in the staff's closet and started taking orders at the counter. She was meddling with some cash when, "What'sa pretty girl like you doing working at a place like this?" a familiar voice said. Maria was sure her heart just skipped a beat out of terror at the sound of that voice. It couldn't be. She took a shaky breath and raised her head and looked straight into the eyes of none other than James Reynolds. He was smirking down at her, posture straight and proud, standing at his full height. "Hello Maria" he said. "What do you want." she snapped. James shrugged. "I heard you were working here and I thought I'd drop by and say hi." "Well. You've said hi. Leave." Maria said sharply. She wouldn't break eye contact. She wouldn't let him feel superior. She wouldn't. "Oh honey," James said, voice venomous. "I was also thinking about how leaving you was the worst decision of my life." Maria knew she had left him. He didn't end it. She did. Or...did he? Did he act the way he did becau- No. No no no. Don't doubt yourself Maria not now. James put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at the touch, and James tightened his grip. "Maria, I-" She took a few steps back, away from him. James rolled his eyes and took a few steps so they were on the same side of the counter. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards him. "James I swear I will call the police." Maria said in a hushed voice. Her voice was shaking and she had to bite her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. James sighed. "We both know you won't call anyone." he said. He puller her closer. His grip on her arm got tighter. That was going to leave a bruise, Maria realized. "You. Won't. Call. Anyone." he whispered in her ear. His breath sent cold chills through Maria. How was no one seeing this? Why was nobody reacting? she thought helplessly. James started walking towards the emergency exit, not wanting to draw attention. He was pulling her with him. Maria was terrified. What was he gonna do? She could only imagine the terrible. She caught sight of the bar's restroom. Would she be able to make a run for it? James' grip had loosened a bit by now, and he wasn't looking at her at the moment since he was dragging her behind him. She had no other choice. She wriggled out of James' grip and ran as fast as she possibly could into a bathroom, slamming the door behind her and locking it quickly. She leaned against the door, breathing heavily. She moved further into the room when she heard James bang his fist againt the door. He couldn't stay there forever, she reassured herself. With every shout, with every bang on the door, she felt as if she was back. Back in one of the nights when James stumbled in drunk and she accidentally said the wrong thing. Back to the evenings when she'd come home from work and find him with another girl in their bed. Back in the moments of rage when he'd slap her. Kick her. Back in the moments when he'd give her an unexpected gift, which when she opened them, she realized was makeup to cover up her bruises. Maria was hyperventilating, and she had tears running down her cheeks. She did everything in her power to not go into a full blown panic attack. James left after a couple of minutes, and Maria managed to calm her breathing. Her head was spinning. She felt sick. She listened carefully to hear if James was still outside the door. It didn't seem like it. She carefully opened the door. "Oh thank god finally this place needs more-" Thomas stopped mid sentence when he saw Maria with smudged makeup and red puffy eyes. "Maria?" The genuine concern in his voice made Maria break. She started sobbing and collapsed against Thomas' chest. He gently put his arms around her. "Let's get you out of here" he said softly. "Do you wanna go home?" Thomas asked once they were outside. Maria shook her head. "He'll find me" she murmured. "We could go to my place, but it's a very long way." he paused. "Do you wanna go to the Schuylers'?" Maria hesitated. She'd prefer to let as few people as possible see her in this state. But she was cold, and tired, and she trusted the Schuylers. So it was alright. "Okay" she said weakly. Thomas nodded. "Let's go." \--------------------------------------- They ringed the bell to the huge house. Thomad had one arm around Maria, in a protective gesture, and she was leaning in against him. It didn't take long before someone opened the door. Eliza gasped when she saw how awful Maria looked. "Oh my god what happened?" she asked. Maria opened her mouth to respond, but no sound came out. "Can Maria stay the night?" Thomas asked. Eliza nodded. "Of course" she said without missing a beat. They walked inside and sat down on a couch. "Angelica is at her apartment with Peggy at the moment" Eliza said, as an explanation to why her sisters weren't there. "So..?" she said questioningly. Thomas looked at Maria. She nodded back at him. "Uhm.." she started. "I was working and, you, uh, you know I asked you, at the ball, if- if James Reynolds would be there?" Eliza nodded. "Yeah, uhm, he is my ex-boyfriend" Maria continued. "He... he didn't- he wasn't, uhm, the best boyfriend. He'd cheat on me. And hit me. He'd..-" her sentence trailed off. Eliza gently put her hand on Maria's and gave her a sympathetic look. "Maria, I didn't know, I- Im so sorry." Maria smiled weakly.


	7. Eliza's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW for implied abuse. Nothing explicit or anything and it's just implied, but better safe than sorry! stay safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comfort and some fluff! Also @ let's pretend this whole thing so far happened during a winter break or something.

Thomas had left, leaving Eliza alone on the couch with Maria. After her explaination of what had happened, Maria hadn't said a word. She was just sitting there, staring into thin air.

Eliza's heart ached at seeing Maria like this. She wanted to wipe the dried tears away from Maria's cheeks, hug her and tell her that she was safe, that Eliza wouldn't let that man come anywhere near her ever again. She wanted --

"I'm sorry" Maria whispered.

What?

"What?" 

Maria looked up at Eliza with wet eyes and furrowed eyebrows. "I just come here out of nowhere and ask to stay and I-" her voice broke and she took a shaky breath in an attempt to calm herself.

"Maria.." Eliza said. "Can I hug you?" she added hesitantly.

Maria slowly nodded. Eliza moved closer and gently embraced her friend. Maria rested her forehead to Eliza's shoulder and Eliza buried her face in Maria's hair. She could feel the other girl shaking with sobs.

"You don't have to apologize for anything" she reassured Maria. "You are not a burden in any way, I promise." she stroked Maria's back, murmuring reassuring words to her. 

Maria had stopped shaking. "I was so scared" she said weakly, almost like a whisper. Eliza bit her lip. She would probably personally murder Reynolds right now of she had the chance. 

"You're safe now." she mumbled into Maria's curls. "You're safe."

Maria tightened her embrace around Eliza and pulled her closer.

After a while Maria pulled back from the hug.

"Thank you" she said weakly.

Eliza smiled warmly at her. "Do you want something to eat?"

Maria blinked. Then paused. "I think I'm good. Thank you for offering, though"

"No problem." Eliza said. 

She checked the time. 11:54 pm.

"You wanna go to sleep? It's pretty late" she asked.

Maria nodded. "That'd be nice." she said and smiled.

Eliza smiled back. She got up and offered Maria a hand. Maria took it and let Eliza help her up from where she was sitting buried in cushions and blankets. And Eliza did most definitely  _not_ linger onto the touch for longer than necessary. Not at all.

 

"Okay so this house is pretty big, and neither Peggy or Angelica is here, well Peggy should come later today or tomorrow I don't really know, she wad at a friends house, anyways, so you could either share my room, we'd have to share a bed but it's pretty big so it'd be fine. Or you could have your own room if you'd like" Eliza explained as they walked up the stairs.

"No it's fine we can share" Maria said with a smile. "I mean, if that's okay with you" she quickly added.

Eliza blinked. "Yeah, of course, it's okay, yeah." she said. 

They made their way to Eliza's room. She was really thankful she had decided to make her bed for once, that made the room look a bit tidier. 

"I assume you don't have any clothes to change into, so you can borrow some of mine to sleep in. They should fit." she said. 

Maria raised her eyebrows. "Oh right, yeah, thank you." she said.

Eliza made her way to the closet and picked out a t-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts.

"Is that alright?" she asked as she showed them to Maria.

Maria nodded. "Perfect. Thank you" 

Eliza smiled and was caught off guard when Maria pulled her shirt off.

She politely turned around as Maria got changed. She could practically feel Maria's amused smile on her.

"Done" she said and Eliza turned back.

Fortunately, her clothes fit Maria just fine. The shorts might've been a tiny bit too tight. Not that Eliza noticed that. Of course not.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Maria announced as she made her way to the bedroom door.

Eliza took the opportunity to change into her pajamas. 

She scrolled through her phone to check any new notifications. Nothing special except a follow request from Thomas Jefferson on instagram. She accepted it and put down her phone. 

Maria came back from the bathroom and Eliza excused herself to go brush her teeth.

When she came back Maria was already comfortably lying beneath the covers in her bed. Eliza walked over and joined her.

Maria rolled over and looked at her.

"Thank you again, for everything, you didn't have to" she said.

"Maria, you're my friend. I'd do anything for you." Eliza simply replied.

Maria looked speechless for a moment.

"Goodnight, Maria"

"Goodnight"

She turned out the light.

 

             __________________________

 

Eliza woke up to hair tickling her cheek. Wait what? 

Oh, right. 

Eliza debated whether to get up or try to go back to sleep. She probably couldn't get up without waking Maria, since their legs were entangled and Eliza's arm was stuck under Maria's neck. 

Eliza looked at Maria's sleeping face. She looked peaceful, none of the tension her face usually held was there. She looked calm.

Well, that made the decision. Eliza closed her eyes and not much later, drifted off to sleep.

 

The next time she woke up it was to Maria carefully trying to leave the bed. 

"Gmorning" Eliza mumbled softly into her pillow.

"oh shit sorry I woke you up" Maria said, biting her lip.

Eliza smiled at her concern. "It's alright. About time anyway"

She sat up lazily and streched her arms. "Wanna go down for breakfast?"

"Oh, I don't need anything, I can go home and eat at my place"

Eliza gave her a look. "No, stay." she said. "If you're okay with that, that is." 

"Are you sure?"

Eliza nodded.

Maria smiled. "Okay"

 

They walked downstairs to the kitchen. They weren't the first people up, Eliza's mother was already there, frying some eggs. 

"Good morning, mom" 

"Good morning Mrs Schuyler" 

Catherine turned to them.

"Good morning girls" she greeted. "You didn't tell me you had friends over, Eliza" 

Maria opened her mouth to explain herself and apologise, but Eliza replied without missing a beat.

"Really? I thought I did. Anyways, this is Maria."

"Nice to meet you, Maria." Catherine said. Thankfully, she didn't seem to recognize her as _the_  Maria, from the ball. Moms holding a grudge was literally the worst.

"Nice to meet you too, Mrs Schuyler." Maria answered politely.

"It's Catherine" she said and smiled at Maria. "Mrs Schuyler is so formal"

Maria nodded. 

Catherine turned back to the frying pan just before the eggs got too dry. She turned the stove off and put together her breakfast.

"I'm gonna go eat on the balcony, don't set fire to the kitchen." she said as she left.

Maria snorted.

"So what do you wanna eat?" Eliza asked as she opened the fridge. 

"Uh.. I'll take whatever you take." 

"Is pancakes okay?"

Maria nodded. 

 

As it turned out, neither of them was very good at cooking. The batter itself turned out okay, except some flour on the floor and some in their faces. But when it came to frying the pancakes...eh. 

They accidentally poked holes in the first three or four. When two pancakes in a row had turned out good, Eliza insisted she'd try to flip it in the air, because "that's how the pros do it, Maria".

Now they were standing there, out of batter, with flour on their faces and in their hair, pancakes with holes in them, and a half done pancake partly on the floor and partly sticking to the wall. 

"Well..." Maria said. She started giggling. 

Eliza was taken aback by the sound because she had never heard Maria giggle, and oh it was adorable. 

"So" Eliza said with a grin. "Syrup or jam?"

             _________________________

 

They cleaned up the mess just in time before someone entered the kitchen. It was Peggy.

"Oh right you're back today"

Peggy smiled. "Hello to you too, sister."

Eliza rolled her eyes. "Hi, Peggy." she said and hugged her sister. 

"Hey Maria" Peggy said and eyed Maria up and down, a hint of a smirk on her lips. Why'd she look at Maria like that?

Maria smiled. "Hello" 

"You're eating breakfast now?" Peggy asked.

"We just ate, actually" Eliza said. 

Peggy pouted. "Awh too bad, now I have to eat alone."

Eliza furrowed her eyebrows. Hadn't Peggy had breakfast already? "Eat? When did you even come home?"

"Yesterday, pretty late, you were probably sleeping" Peggy explained.

Eliza nodded. "Ah, okay" 

"We could stay and keep you company for a while if you'd like" Maria said, but shot a glance at Eliza as if to ask if it was okay.

"Yeah" Eliza said.

"Aww thank youu" Peggy said unnecessarily sweetly. 

 

"So, if you don't mind me asking," Peggy said as she sat down by her bowl of cereal. "- Why are you here Maria?"

"Oh, I- uhm, needed somewhere to stay the night."

Peggy furrowed her eyebrows. "I thought you had an apartment?"

Eliza gave her a warning look. Peggy was nice, but sometimes she had no filter. 

"I- " Maria started hesitantly.

Peggy caught Eliza's eye and saw the look in her sister's eyes.

"Oh you don't have to tell me if you don't want to" she added quickly with the shadow of a sly smile.

Maria smiled awkwardly but looked relieved. "Thank you."

After a pause, she excused herself to go to the bathroom.

When Maria had left the room, Peggy wiggled her eyebrows at Eliza. 

"What?" Eliza asked.

"She's wearing your clothes." 

"Yeah? she didn't have anything to change into"

"Sure Jan"

Oh. It dawned on Eliza. That's why Peggy had smirked like that. Oh god.

She groaned and Peggy grinned. 

"Sooo what happened? What'd I miss?"

"Nothing" Eliza said.

Peggy raised an eyebrow. "That's not what I saw."

"What"

Peggy let out a quick laugh at Eliza's face.

"I-ah- I might've opened your door when I came home, just to wake you up and tell you about what Laf and Herc did to Burr - hilarious story by the way - but then I saw you spooning some girl-"

Eliza rolled her eyes.

"- so I thought I shouldn't disturb you." Peggy finished, grinning even wider. 

"Pegs it's really not-"

"I already had my suspects about you and Maria" Peggy interrupted. "Sooo tell me when this happened?"

"Peggy. Nothing happened. We were just sleeping together."

Peggy choked on her cereal. Eliza groaned and laid her head down when she realized that she chose the worst phrasing imaginable. 

Peggy burst out laughing at Eliza's embarrassment. 

That's when Maria appeared in the doorway.

"What are you guys laughing at?" she asked.

Eliza threw her head up. Peggy started laughing again.

"Oh I'm just laughing at Eliza" she explained between laughs.

Maria furrowed her eyebrows but smiled. "Okayy"

After a pause she added, "I should probably leave." 

Eliza's smile fell. Peggy pouted. 

"You sure?" Eliza asked.  _Will you be safe?_

Maria nodded. "Yeah, it should be okay."

_Should._ Eliza smiled, but couldn't quite get rid of the worrying feeling deep down. 

"Let's go get your stuff then" she said.

Peggy winked at her when they left the kitchen. Eliza just rolled her eyes. 

                  ______________________

Maria changed back into her clothes and made sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Then they went downstairs. 

"You sure you'll be okay?" Eliza asked with a concerned expression.

Maria smiled softly. "Yeah."

Eliza held out her arms and Maria embraced her into a tight hug. 

"Thank you again" she said as they pulled apart.

"You're always welcome here." Eliza said. "Always."

"And to Angie's apartment." she added. "You're always welcome there as well."

Maria smiled. It seemed like she wanted to say something but couldn't think of what.

They hugged again.

"I'll see you" Eliza said.

"Yeah. See you"

"Classes start again soon right?"

"Yeah in like a week" Maria said.

"I think we have at least one class in common" Eliza said with a smile. "So that's good." 

Maria nodded. "Yeah" 

She smiled at Eliza one last time and walked out the door. 

Eliza closed it when Maria was out of sight.

 

"Awww" came from behind her.

"Shut up Pegs"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peggy's onto something ;)))


End file.
